Is sadness the new happiness? (2)

Possessing feelings of sadness is not such a horrible thing, on the contrary when you are feeling “down” you become more sensitive and sympathetic. You become more aware of issues and situations that your mind automatically ignores when being in the state of contentment. Curiously you start noting how superficial and shallow most people are, at that time they do not feel sadness, which I have come to realize, keeps us grounded and more understanding of others’ problems. You no longer assume someone is a “party pooper” if that person isn’t “chipper”, you start putting yourself in the person’s shoes, trying to comprehend his/her dilemma which naturally makes you more sympathetic and accepting of ones issues. Embrace that temporary gift; it will pass like everything else does. I embraced that gift by writing constantly in my melancholic phase, it was quite beneficial –most of my article is inspired by my earlier journal entries. This can help you see more clearly what is making you sad, that way it becomes easier to resolve the issues bringing you down –recognition is half the battle. Another thing worth mentioning, people usually have better ideas when they are sad than when they are not. When you’re happy you aren’t as observant of actions and emotions as you are when you are sad; when you’re sad your senses are usually heightened, you look for that emotion to feel like someone else is going through the same, so you start to make up stories of why people seem depressed, mad, or sad. This alone gives you more ideas. To add to this, when you are sad you’re usually more introverted, getting your energy from within yourself and through reflection. This paves the way to developing and recording ideas.

When you are happy there is nothing substantial to write about, yet, when you are angry or sad many of your heightened emotions flow out of you, as sadness and anger are stronger emotions than happiness or contentment. These pieces of advice have not been handed to me on a silver platter; I had to dig deep inside myself to reach the essence of my problem and try to identify it. In the beginning all I could write about was, being sad is something like this: “I feel sad, I don’t like it”. After years of going into melancholy and back out, I started using imagery to describe my emotions. I once described sadness as a monster whose “subtle fingers wrap around my conscious, pulling the reins of my mind. I am the wild horse trying to break free”. Looking back at my writings I am amazed of how I felt, my journal entries were so graphic I couldn’t help but feel what I have felt when I was sad. However, writing is not for everyone; there are many ways in which one can benefit from when being in a sad state. You can only determine how to channel your sadness into something positive, all I can say about this is, keep trying.

I understand how hard it is to find sources that tell you how to deal and embrace sadness. Most internet sources tell you “how to be happy using four tips…” or “How to feel instantly better when you’re depressed…” of course you read the articles, then realize that you don’t feel better, making you feel even worse about yourself. These articles underestimate the power sadness has on one’s psyche, more than a couple of overly optimistic tips that assures you overcoming sadness. You cannot expect for a miracle to await you when magically found by reading those articles. What will happen is an evolution; feelings of sadness will not disappear at once. Sadness’ intensity will fade gradually; it will not disappear at once. Before that happens, the blues must become your friend. Singer Lykke Li sums up my ideas of how to deal with sadness through her song, she says “sadness is a blessing, sadness is a curse, sadness is my boyfriend oh sadness I’m your girl”.
If it’s any consolation, the French author/philosopher Albert Camus once said “in order to be created, a work of art must first make use of the dark forces of the soul” basically the foundation of creativity and art are when you connect to the “darkness” which is mainly sadness. This author/philosopher is telling us to use the sadness, anger, or grief to create a piece of art that is beautiful and unique.

Every single one of us feels sadness at some point in his/her life. I believe that we are meant to feel sadness, and is for us to be able to appreciate the good memories. Without black there is no white. Sadness and happiness are merely distant relatives; you must feel both to value their importance.
And ultimately, knowing that life doesn’t get easier; you just become stronger through your experiences involving melancholy. We all gather strength from sadness and pain. Each time we feel like we are dying we learn to live again. And this is the most precious lesson to be learnt, for a diamond only becomes on when put under immense pressure. So shine on you crazy diamond.

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